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Thursday, March 30, 2017

Great soups have one common ingredient: homemade stock. Canned stock literally pales in comparison.

Usually, I put my stock pot on the stove just before I go to bed and let it simmer on low all night. It's a long process, but that slow simmer unlocks the best flavor.

Enter my Instant Pot pressure cooker.

I can now do in 45 minutes what I used to do in a entire night. That's right. Using my pressure cooker, I can now make the most incredible, richest, golden chicken stock in just 45 minutes.

For chicken stock, I prefer chicken wings. They produce a rich, gelatinous stock. They can be expensive, so I look for packages that are marked down or on sale. Three pounds of wings will give you 5-7 cups of rich-tasting stock to use in your favorite recipes. If you are lucky, your grocer or meat market will carry raw chicken backs/carcasses. If you are really lucky, they will have chicken feet! Sometimes, I add a raw turkey neck for additional flavor. Some people add garlic and fresh herbs to their stock. I prefer not to. I want pure, unadulterated chicken stock. When I make an actual soup, I will add herbs and garlic then.

3 pounds chicken wings, rinsed

2 carrots (8 ounces)

2 stalks celery (8 ounces)

1 medium yellow onion (8 ounces)

1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

1 tablespoon Kosher salt

Bottled water (avoid tap water)

Cut vegetables into one-inch chunks. Add to Instant Pot. Add rinsed chicken wings, salt and peppercorns. Fill with water just until the contents are covered by about one-half to one-inch. For my six-quart pressure cooker, that was just up to the 8-cup mark. Do fill over the "maximum fill line" in the pressure cooker.

Celery leaves add much flavor.

Secure lid. Be sure valve is on "sealing." Set manual timer to 45 minutes. When time is up, quick release valve.

Discard all wings and vegetables. The wings have done their job. Their nutrition is now in the stock.

Allow to cool and skim off any fat. There will not be much. Or refrigerate overnight and remove solidified fat from the surface. The fat is great for cooking/frying. In Yiddish, it is called "schmaltz."

Covered stock can be kept in the refrigerator for several days or up to six months if frozen. It is worth freezing. I freeze in two-cup increments.

Notes: This is an Alton Brown recipe. I made my stock on the back porch. So easy and any spills, etc. were just hosed away.